How to Make Lattice Top Pie Crust

A lattice top pie looks very beautiful.  All the weaving, and the filling just poking through here and there. Normally it's golden brown and delicious looking.  But it can be a pain the butt.

The weaving is the trick--how do you get the pieces over and under each other without breaking?  The weaving itself might be tricky, but this step by step tutorial of how to make a lattice top pie shows that it's almost easy!  Just a little 'tricky'.

The trick to making a lattice top pie is not actually weaving the strips.  Taking the pie crust and placing and folding it in the weaving pattern makes everything simple, without every having to force one piece of pie crust under another one. 

First you need a delicious flaky pie crust.  Roll the pie crust into a large circle 2-3 inches bigger than your pie dish.  It's better to have strips too long than too short.

Cut the pieces into 1 inch strips.  I used a ruler and a straight edge to help my pieces be evenly sized. You can use a fluted cutter or a straight one. A sharp knife will work just as well. 

After all your pieces are cut take one of the longest pie crust strips and place it vertically (blue) down the middle of the pie.  Space your next vertical strip about 1 inch away.  Repeat with the remaining space on the pie; use shorter pieces as you get farther from the middle.

Now your going to fold your pie strips.  Starting with the middle strip, fold back every other strip across a little more than half the pie.  Place your first horizontal strip (red) across the middle of the pie, on top of the unfolded vertical strips.  

Unfold the vertical strips.  You have 'weaved' your first pie strip.

Fold the vertical pieces you did not fold before.  You should be folding back every other vertical strip over the first horizontal piece.

Place the next horizontal piece across the pie about 1 inch away from the first.  Place it on top of the unfolded vertical strips.  Unfold the vertical strips and repeat.  

Repeat with this half of the pie before turning it around and following the same steps with the other side.

Carefully trim the excess edges off of the strips, going around the pie.  Use a sharp knife to prevent pulling or tearing the pie dough.  Then gently press the edges to adhere, or you can crimp the edges.  Whatever you want!

You pie is ready to bake.  Just cook it to your recipe's specifications.  I love the look of a lattice top pie.  For the longest time I was terrified of trying because I thought it would be too hard.  With this simple method of making a lattice top pie you can totally do it for your next pie!

What's your favorite way to top a pie?  I'm super excited to try new ways soon!

How to Clean and Care for a Wood Cutting Board

My best friend in the kitchen is my giant wooden cutting board.  It's literally huge, and I literally use it every time I cook.  My cutting board has his own spot on the counter-right between the stove and the sink.  It is the perfect prep spot and the cutting board let's me do all my work in one spot.

After!

I use my cutting board to chop and, for gathering my mis en place, and as a general spot to sit anything and everything.  I also use him as a back drop for food photos, and occasionally as a hot pad. 

As a result of all this hard work my cutting board was in need of a deep cleaning and an oiling.  (He was getting kind of grungy.)

Follow these steps for a great looking and working wooden cutting board.  If you take good care of the cutting boards they should last a really really long time.  

How to Clean and Care for A wooden Cutting Board

Author: Happy Food Happy Home

Supplies

Wooden Cutting Board

220 grit sandpaper

sanding block

Lemon

Kosher Salt

Coconut Oil

Paper Towels or a clean dry cloth

1. Optional-If needed use the sanding block and sandpaper to sand the surface of your cutting board.  Sanding will help remove stains, buff out knife scratches, and smooth the surface of your cutting board.  Don't try to be perfect--you might end up with an uneven surface; just lightly sand the surface. Use a damp paper towel to wipe off the sawdust.
2. Cut the lemon in half.  Pour a teaspoon of salt onto the surface of the cutting board. Use the lemon half to scrub the salt into the cutting board, focusing on stains.  Cover the surface of the cutting board with the lemon juice-salt mixture.  Flip the board over and repeat on the other side with an additional teaspoon of salt.  Let the cutting board sit for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Thoroughly rinse the cutting board and allow it to air dry completely.
4. Using your hands massage about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into each side of the cutting board.  Flip the board over onto a towel before doing the second side.  Let the board sit overnight to allow it to absorb all the oil it can. 
5. After its overnight soak use paper towels to buff the excess coconut oil off of the board. If your board is dry, repeat the coconut oil massage and allow to sit again.   

Your board is ready for use!  To keep clean day to day rinse your cutting board after every use.  If you cut meat on your wood surface use soap to wash before using with other ingredients. Allow board to dry out between washings-if the board gets water inside it may crack. 

You can oil your board once or twice a month, or you can wait longer. Just follow steps 2-6 for a great looking wooden cutting board.  My cutting board was really overdue for a good cleaning and oiling, but looks wonderful now!  I would recommend only sanding about once a year-if you sand too often there won't be anything left of your cutting board!

Just a note:  I bought my wooden cutting board at a kitchen supply store.  It was cheap-only 15 dollars-but a little rough.  I did an initial sanding to smooth out the roughness before I ever started using it.  After sanding it was as smooth as butter and functions just as well as a 100 dollar cutting board. 

Spicy Turkey Chili Soup

Turkey Chili is my favorite cold weather food.  I'm pretty sure I could eat it every week if Dustin would let me.  Especially because of all the different ways you can eat it; I like having it served with pasta, over a baked potato, with nachos, in a bowl with lots of cheese. 

I love my chili spicy but you can totaly adjust the spice level without losing any of the flavors.  Because of the combinations and layers of spices this chili is flavorful and delicious--and it sure can be spicy.  

First I like to gather all my ingredients.  It makes it much easier to put the chili together quickly when I don't have to dig for spices in the middle of cooking.  

Dice your onion, mince the garlic, and finely dice the jalapeno.  If you would like less heat make sure to remove the seeds and white membrane out of the inside of the jalapeno.  But don't leave the jalapeno out; it adds a fresh bright flavor to the chili, and once it's cooked the spiciness is distributed throughout the chili. 

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until softened--about five minutes.  Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for two more minutes.  

Increase heat to medium-high.  Add ground turkey and use a wooden spoon to bash it into crumbles. Cook the turkey until it's browned.  

Add the chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Mix in spices and stir for 30 seconds on the heat to toast the chili powder. 

Add tomatoes, juice, beans, and remaining spices.  If you want thicker chili omit the tomato juice--your chili will be more of a chili sauce and less of a chili soup.  Stir everything together.  Cover and bring chili to a simmer.  Allow chili to simmer for at least a half hour.  Taste and add more salt or pepper if necessary.  Serve your chili with cooked pasta noodles, with a baked potato, or in a big bowl with cheese. 

Spicy Turkey Chili Soup

serves eight

4 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon oregano

1/4  teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 large onion

1 garlic clove

1 jalapeno

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound ground turkey

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes

2 cups tomato juice

1 bay leaf

1 15 ounce can hot chili beans

1. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium low heat. 
2. Combine the spices except the bay leaf in a small bowl.
3. Dice onions, garlic, and jalapeno.
4. Add onions and cook until soft--about 5 minutes.  Add garlic and jalapeno and cook for 2 minutes more.
5. Add in turkey, one tablespoon of the seasoning mix from the bowl, and lots of salt and pepper. Use the ground meat spatula to break it down into crumbles. Cook until just barely cooked. It’s honestly better to stop a little early than over cook.
6.  Add the rest of the spices from the bowl. Toast the spices for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
7. Add the whole tomatoes; use the ground meat spatula to break them down into tiny pieces. Use caution—they can squirt!
8. Add in the tomato juice and beans. Stir all together and bring pot to a simmer.  Cook for at least 30 minutes—the longer it summers, the more the flavors will meld.

What's your favorite way of eating chili?  My dad always fills his with crackers and one of my friends swears by peanut butter sandwiches.  I'm more of a pasta with lots of cheese kinda girl!

How to Spatchcock a Chicken

When you spatchcock a chicken you are opening it by removing its backbone.  You spatchcock a chicken to allow it to lay more flat which in turn makes the chicken cook faster and more evenly.  These pictures will walk you step-by-step through spatchcocking a chicken.

Spatchcocking a chicken seemed really weird the first time I did it.  You really do have to get very personal with the chicken.  But it's become a little more natural each time I've done it.  And spatchcocking really does produce a very juicy chicken that cooks much more evenly than a whole chicken.

Disclaimer--these photos show the inside of a raw chicken.  If you don't want to see that I recommend you skip this post!

First the supplies you need:

You need a cutting board; I recommend a sturdy one that you can put in the dishwasher.
A pair of kitchen shears; these make the job of really getting into the chicken along the backbone so much easier.  Make sure they are a pretty hefty pair.  You put a lot of force on them while cutting through the chicken's ribs.
And sometimes I use a chef's knife to help get through particularly tough sections of the chicken.  I didn't need it this time!

Step 1:  Remove chicken from any wrappings.  Take out giblets and innards included with your chicken.  If you chicken is wet pat dry with a paper towel so you will be able to hold it better. Set chicken on your cutting board.

Step 2:  Starting at the rear of your chicken use your fingers to locate the spine.  Grab your kitchen sheers and start snipping along one side the spine.  Keep close to the spine as you cut.  Cut up to the ribs-they are considerably harder to cut so you will know when to stop.  Repeat on other side.

Step 3:  Cutting the ribs. Use your non-scissor hand to hold the spine out of the way.  With your scissors take a large cut along one side of the spine.  You will need some/a lot of force to cut through the ribs.  Continue cutting along the spine through the rest of the chicken.  Repeat on other side.  Remove spine from chicken.

Step 4:  Use your hands to spread chicken apart.  This exposes the cavity and flattens the chicken.  You can then season the inside of your chicken and cook as directed.  I keep the spines from the spatchcocked chicken in a freezer bag and use them to make stock when the bag is full.  You've now successfully spatchcocked a chicken!

Have you ever spatchcocked a chicken? What is your favorite way to use a spatchcocked chicken?

Delicious Chicken in Cream Sauce

My mom and I started calling this chicken  "Delicious Chicken" soon after we made it for the first time.  The chicken highlights the best of summer tomatoes and basil, and it all blends together in a delicious cream sauce.

I will literally eat this sauce right out of the pan; the chicken drippings, broth, and cream cheese work so well together and magically create an amazing sauce with only three ingredients.

The tomatoes and basil add freshness and brighten up what could be a heavy dish.  And the tomatoes are so good softly cooked in the sauce.  They melt into puddles of tomato heaven.

Make this quickly! September is still a great time for tomatoes, but evil winter is coming fast, and we'll have to say goodbye to fresh tomatoes until next summer!

Start by pounding chicken into an even thickness--this helps it cook more evenly and stay juicier.  Then mix the salt, pepper, and flour together on a plate.  Use tongs to lightly dredge the chicken in flour and shake of the excess.

Place the chicken into the hot pan and cook until both sides are crispy and lightly browned.  Remove the chicken to a plate.

Pour in the chicken broth and use a wooden spoon to scrape the delicious chicken bits off the bottom of the pan. 

Add in the cream cheese chunks. 

Stir until melted and add salt and pepper to taste. 

Add the chicken to the sauce and turn to coat. 

  At this point you can add the tomatoes and basil and allow them to cook for about five minutes to 'melt' the tomatoes.  Or if you have picky people, leave the tomatoes and basil to garnish at the end. 

Place the chicken on the plate, spoon sauce on, and add basil...

and tomatoes! 

Delicious Chicken

4 small chicken breasts or thighs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 glugs of oil

4 ounces (1/2 block) cream cheese
3/4 cup of chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

1 cup fresh cherry tomatoes
a handful of fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. Over medium heat add oil in high sided skillet or dutch oven. 
2. Pound chicken until about a quarter inch thick. 
3. Mix together flour, pepper, and salt on a plate.  Dredge chicken until lightly coated in flour. 
4. Add chicken to hot pan and cook until both sides are golden brown, and the chicken is cooked through.
5. Remove chicken to a plate. 
6. Add chicken broth to skillet and stir with a wooden spoon to scrape the delicious chicken bits off the bottom.
7. Add cream cheese and stir occasionally until melted. 
8. Cut tomatoes into quarters and julianne the basil into pretty strips. 
9. Put the chicken back into the sauce and turn to coat. 
10. You can add the tomatoes and basil in and cook for approx five minutes until the tomatoes have softened slightly.  
11. OR you can plate the chicken and add the tomatoes and basil as garnish. 

And then you devour it!! Your chicken might not have as much sauce as mine do because I'm a sauce hog.  Luckily Dustin loves me and lets me eat all most of the sauce.

So please make this chicken! It is absolutely wonderful, and your taste buds will thank me!